I wonder why these can't go out in one bulk mailing, instead of being staggered so far apart? I'd like to see the look on the UPS guy's face that has to pick up 100 boxes at one shot.

Ha!! I did a stint with UPS during the holiday a few years back and we did have a few pickups like that. One was a place that ships medicine to people mostly terminal AIDS patents and we had to pick up nearly 200 boxes 4 days straight because the guy who did that route screwed up. Also my first day on the job I had to unload huge boxes of clothes to a citi limits or something store. Citi Trends. We had nearly 50 boxes all weighing about 50-70 pounds each. My First day mind you. I'm nearly 50 years old and you shoulda seen me dragging the huge stack of boxes on the hand truck. Man I really liked that job, very physical. After 2 months of walking up and down hills and inclines my ass grew back

That IS a good idea. How well does the paint hold to the metal, as far as you can tell?

It is a great idea. Back when GPK Chrome first hit, and all those people were complaining about the blank printing plates, I was hoping to pick one up and commission a painting from Simko or Engstrom at the Philly NSCS. Unfortunately, even blank, they were selling for more than I was willing to pay for a blank canvas to commission. Oh well. Congrats on the great pick-up.

Thanks to all for this really great thread.
So much info, I'm reading it for the second time.
Got in a bit too late and understood too late how this market functions.
But I'll be prepared for the next launch in 2014 ...
And I assume most of the artists on this board will be invited to sketch.
And that the split sketch puzzle will be a thing of the past ...
I was puzzled why all the good artists are all selling all their AR/AP in the same week (more or less). Would it not be more sound to space that over several months?
Once I got all I need and have seen most of the sketches that are out or around, will I not look completely differently at ARs (since artists ask for their best cards to be returned, or not?). Don't ray-blast me ;-) I'm new and I only collect Mars Attacks ...

I'm quickly coming to the realization that sketch card collecting isn't for me. The latest Horley pull is on eBay w/a $1400 BIN. The one w/the girl in black bikini went for over $1200, and the flip of one with the girl in the red dress sold pretty quickly for $1500!

Between that and the silly asking prices on some new puzzle sets, some of these sellers think they struck gold.

As a collector, the mediocre pulls from my boxes where I can't even break even on my boxes, prevent me from continuing to try my luck on more boxes. And frankly if I was lucky enough to pull a very high valued sketch, I think I'd have to sell it to recoup some what I spent on my collection.

The Horleys have gone for big bucks, but this set seemed to also have a lot of great stuff at affordable prices too even if you didnt manage to pick up one of his.

I agree the high instances of split puzzles were a major source of annoyance (I had one split puzzle in my total of 3 boxes purchased), but I think the set as a whole scores a solid B+. Invasion was probably my 2nd favorite set to collect in 2013. I will most likely collect the next MA set as long as Brereton is back on it, but hopefully they cap the number of puzzles an artist can do and not break them up.

I'm quickly coming to the realization that sketch card collecting isn't for me. The latest Horley pull is on eBay w/a $1400 BIN. The one w/the girl in black bikini went for over $1200, and the flip of one with the girl in the red dress sold pretty quickly for $1500!

Between that and the silly asking prices on some new puzzle sets, some of these sellers think they struck gold.

As a collector, the mediocre pulls from my boxes where I can't even break even on my boxes, prevent me from continuing to try my luck on more boxes. And frankly if I was lucky enough to pull a very high valued sketch, I think I'd have to sell it to recoup some what I spent on my collection.

No doubt, opening boxes is a gamble and unless you're a huge case breaker or just get lucky, you rarely recoup your money. I opened four boxes and 3 of the 4 were DUDS....and I mean TERRIBLE! As a artist who participated in the set, I guess it's OK for me to say two of the sketches I got were embarrassing with little or no time spent on them. At least I got a great Dastick sketch. There's no doubt I wouldn't recoup the money spent on the boxes.

But then....when we open boxes...aren't we all hoping we'll win the lottery and pull a Horley or the like. We're hooked!

The Horleys have gone for big bucks, but this set seemed to also have a lot of great stuff at affordable prices too even if you didnt manage to pick up one of his.

I agree the high instances of split puzzles were a major source of annoyance (I had one split puzzle in my total of 3 boxes purchased), but I think the set as a whole scores a solid B+. Invasion was probably my 2nd favorite set to collect in 2013. I will most likely collect the next MA set as long as Brereton is back on it, but hopefully they cap the number of puzzles an artist can do and not break them up.

If there is a new set I would probably advocate ZERO puzzles. We tried something different and it didn't work out. Still, i'm glad we tried. I'd much rather try and fail than to keep doing the same old thing over and over.

I'm quickly coming to the realization that sketch card collecting isn't for me. The latest Horley pull is on eBay w/a $1400 BIN. The one w/the girl in black bikini went for over $1200, and the flip of one with the girl in the red dress sold pretty quickly for $1500!

Between that and the silly asking prices on some new puzzle sets, some of these sellers think they struck gold.

As a collector, the mediocre pulls from my boxes where I can't even break even on my boxes, prevent me from continuing to try my luck on more boxes. And frankly if I was lucky enough to pull a very high valued sketch, I think I'd have to sell it to recoup some what I spent on my collection.

I think you're overlooking the artist's name. Alex Horley is HUGE-- especially in the fantasy and comic world. He is a regular contributor to Magic: The Gathering and is one of their biggest, most popular artists. He's done many popular comics too. His sketch cards were limited to about 25 total between in pack and returns and they were all fully painted-- and easily the highest quality of anything in the set. His original art sells for thousands of dollars and it was a real coup that he did any sketches at all. He's only ever done sketch cards once (for "Crimson") and this is what he did:

As you can see, he did much higher quality work this time around. If he'd done B&W line drawings i'm sure it'd be something more in your price range. Would I have paid 1500 for his painted sketch cards? No. But I understand why somebody would.

Look around and you'll find a wide array of quality and pricing. Lots of of good affordable cards. But the better it is and the more popular the artist, the more it's going to run you.